A way to Make Silicone Softer more like rubber?

I am trying to make a suture pad for my practice, and reason why i can't buy it is because i need a bigger size, a size that will make me pay hundreds of dollars to get hold of , if i can. so i figured why not try make one yourself, So i went to the hardware store and bought 100% silicone caulk, and made a mold, it "works", kinda off, the main problem is that when it fully cure it tough as a rock.

Did you make this instructable?

A suture pad simulates human skin, some good, some do it with all skin layers and realistic feeling for injections and stitches.A pad from just silicone, no matter how soft or hard is bad for several reasons.

a) the needle struggles to get through the material due to the high binding forces of silicone.b) unless the right additives are added the silicone will also tear once there is sufficient tension on the stitches, especilly with very fine and thin equippment.c) it won't give you the feeling you need to perfom on humans or animals so it is only good to learn placement and basic technique but not how it works on real skin.

During my army times I attended a "course" were we got basic training on how to treat certain sof tissue damages on ourself if cut off behind lines.I think that despite being now almost 30 years old the same could be of massive benefit for you too, just on a smaller scale.Here is what we de during our one day course:Get a few piglets and some big sized skin patches from mummy and daddy - they won't mind while being transformed into other things ;)While the piglets were roasting on the spit BBQ we got handed out some skin that someone already prepared with some cuts, tears and poking holes with blunt objects.Some field medics showed us what they thought to be the best approach to close our simulated wounds pretending we already cleaned them LOLHaving some real sking with fat, dead skin layer on top and all that goes along was beneficial IMHO.And since pig skin comes really close to human skin we knew what to expect when got into the need of applying our new skills.The best and worst results were later discussed and the "loosers" put on BBQ duty to supply us with an ongoing amount of roasted piglet :)

So on a small scale just ask your favourite butcher if he can sell you a large piece of skin for dirt cheap or where to get one.Cut into pieces and put in the freezer for later use.If you only need small sections consider to get a leg piece for the training and when done remove the stiches, add some seasoning and put in the oven for a good meal ;)

Hi again! sorry for the late replay, got busy with studying and forgot about this question, anyway I got around making 4 more suture pads and I think I found a safe ground to work with. as you can see from the picture, they all work